Yet More Twelve-Clara Thoughts

Yep, it’s another series 8 gripe-post.  However, this one is written in the optimistic hope that, once series 9 starts up in a couple weeks, the Doctor and Clara’s relationship will be revamped to the point that these complaints will be obsolete.  I’m crossing my fingers that “Last Christmas” was a sign of things to come, and that things between Clara and the Doctor will only improve as the season goes on.  (Series 8 spoilers.)

Today, I’m looking specifically at how these two stack up as friends for one another.  Given my obvious Twelve bias and my well-documented concerns about how Clara’s been written (particularly last season,) it’s no surprise that I come out largely in his favor.  Which isn’t to say that Twelve makes the world’s greatest friend, because he doesn’t.  I hate the potshots about Clara’s appearance, and he puts Clara through a lot of needless stress and anxiety in “Deep Breath” and “Kill the Moon.”  He’s fallen short of being a good friend, to be sure.

That said, there’s a tendency to think of Twelve as a colder/meaner/crankier/less caring Doctor, and when I look closely at last season, I don’t find that to be the case.  I think he doesn’t often say the caring thing, but he frequently does the caring thing.  As I mentioned above, “Deep Breath” has the scene where he appears to have left Clara to fend for herself, but once you’ve seen the episode and note which disguise is his, he’s easy to find on rewatch.  Then, you see he’s actually with her, incognito, almost the entire time.  In fact, when Clara passes out and the Half-Man calls for someone to secure her, the Doctor’s the one who comes forward to pick her up.

Now let’s take “Dark Water.”  During a time when she’s basically out of her head with grief, Clara tries to blackmail the Doctor into breaking the laws of time for her by a) putting on an act that she’s perfectly fine (he doesn’t know about Danny yet,) so she can b) steal all the TARDIS keys and attempt to drug him, and then c) threatening to destroy the TARDIS keys in front of him, which she would mean d) condemning herself, the Doctor, and the TARDIS to die in a volcano.  She does all that, and the Doctor forgives her with nary a thought.  Then he helps her try to recover Danny in a non-paradox-causing way, making sure she’s in a state of mind to assess the situation honestly.  And after that, in “Death in Heaven,” when Clara is ready to kill Missy (the Doctor’s oldest friend/enemy and what may or may not be the only other Time Lord in the universe,) he’s prepared to do it himself if it’s the only way to keep Clara from having Missy’s death on her conscience.  So, while he makes definite mistakes, he also knows how to walk the walk where friendship is concerned.

And really, even the Doctor’s criticisms (minus the knocks on her appearance, because ugh) seem a little softened when I realize that Clara’s faults don’t really have any bearing on his estimation of her.  Just like his near-instant forgiveness after the betrayal described above, he knows that she’s not perfect and tells her so in blunt detail, but he still likes her.  In “Deep Breath,” in the same scene where he literally calls her “an egomaniac, needy game-player,” he also tells her that he doesn’t want her to change.  He likes who she is, warts and all.

And then there’s Clara.  (sigh…)  Okay, so in “Deep Breath,” after she’s had the “he’s the same Doctor” heart-to-heart with Jenny, Vastra, and the Doctor, plus sees him come through for her in her own little “if the Doctor is still the Doctor” moment, she still says she doesn’t know who he is anymore and is prepared to leave him.  Then, after Eleven calls her from the past to say, “Don’t leave the new me – he’s scared, and he needs you,” and Twelve references the phone conversation, she tells him he shouldn’t have been eavesdropping and needs him to reiterate again that he’s the same Doctor and beg her to see that before she finally decides to stay. 

And in “Dark Water” / “Death in Heaven,” as the Doctor assists Clara in the midst of a massively hard time, he’s going through quite a rough day himself.  He realizes that the Master/Missy is back and is wrestling with the assorted feelings that involves – the hope that Gallifrey can be found, the relief that he’s not alone in the universe, the consternation that it’s the Master, and the grim understanding that, once again, he has to stop her.  Missy then offers him the gift of an undead Cyber-army imbued with the consciousnesses of his dead friends, people he failed to save, and people who died for his sake, tempting him with the prospect of using it to write intergalactic wrongs but slapping him with the insinuation that he’s no different from her.  Especially when you consider the identity questions the Doctor struggles with throughout the season, this hits him where it hurts.  And how does Clara come through for the Doctor (who she singles out in this story as her best friend?)  In short, she doesn’t.  She’s not even around for most of it, dealing with her own stuff, and when they’re finally together again in the second half of “Death in Heaven,” she’s still too wrapped up in her grief to really register what’s going on from the Doctor’s perspective.  In fact, she piles it on, blaming the Doctor for the entire Cyber-invasion because he didn’t kill the Master lifetimes ago, which leads to the aforementioned scene of him preparing himself to kill Missy to prevent Clara from doing it.  As is my typical mantra with this story, I know that Clara is dealing with an enormous hardship right now, but still.  How can she be so focused on what she’s going through that she’s completely blind to her (again, her words) best friend’s troubles?

I think that’s what really bothers me.  It’s that she doesn’t even seem to notice what’s going on with the Doctor.  The premiere and the finale are the biggest examples, but there’s other evidence of it during the season.  There’s that moment in “Robot of Sherwood” where the Doctor, scoffing at her adoration for Robin Hood, asks, “When did you start believing in impossible heroes?” and she fondly replies, “Don’t you know?”  In theory, it’s a sweet moment that shows her regard for him.  However, looked at in the context of the season, it makes me want to yell, “No, he doesn’t!  He’s not sure anymore, and you know that, because last week he asked you if he was a good man and you told him you didn’t know!  So maybe don’t act so surprised that he doesn’t think you see him as a hero!”  (I can be way too protective of Twelve, and I think that might be down to Clara’s relationship with him – no other Doctor so frequently makes me want to defend him from his own companion.  Good grief.)  Or in “Listen,” when the Doctor starts in on his whole “silent passenger” spiel, Clara asks him, “How long have you been traveling alone?”  Good at first, because she recognizes he’s been on his own too long.  But then, she doesn’t do anything about it.  Having seen that her friend needs someone around, she doesn’t really make an effort to be that person.  She in fact asks to be dropped off again in the middle of the episode, leaving the Doctor to muddle through his unresolved questions alone and coming to rejoin him only when he gatecrashes her evening, having found something too big to be ignored.  (For the record, I also hate it when Amy has nearly the same exchange with Eleven in “A Town Called Mercy” and think it reflects just as badly on her.)

Speaking of “Listen,” that brings up one more example:  the bit at the end where, feeling warm towards the Doctor, Clara hugs him despite his protests.  The thing is, the Doctor doesn’t like hugging anymore, and he’s told her this – it’s discussed a few times over the course of the season – but whenever she wants to show her affection for him, that’s her go-to move, something she knows he doesn’t like.  It seems like a little thing, and in a way it is, but it’s just one more instance of her not making the effort to give him what he needs, and that’s why it bothers me.

Goodness gracious, that’s long!  Here’s hoping that, the next time I write about this relationship, it’s to express my wholehearted approval for the new version of it.